by
posted 06/17/2009 
| | The Champions: From left - Anna Collins, Amy Livorsi, Rachel Meyer, Allia Connolly & Sage Riddick. Emily Chateauneuf on goal post. | | |
The Westford Chargers, representing Westford Flag Football, won the Gillette Stadium Flag Football Tournament this past weekend in the 12-14 girls division. Under bright, sunny skies, following in the footsteps of their Patriot heroes, the girls narrowly defeated the Peabody Chiefs 26-24 in the final game of an exhilarating best-of-three game series.
The outcome of the tournament was in doubt with 30 seconds to go in the final and deciding game. From their own 5 yard line, and facing a 24-20 deficit, the Chargers stormed down the field. After an incompletion on first down, Quarterback Sage Riddick hit Rachel Meyer (1 Td, 2 safeties) deep and with a nifty run after catch, the Chargers found themselves scrambling to get a final play off on their opponents five. Emily Chateauneuf (1 TD and 3 PATs on the day) spun her long snap quickly as the girls ran their bread and butter “12” play with no time remaining. Riddick (7 TD passes, 1 int on defense) hit Amy Livorsi (5 TD catches, 2 TD runs for the day) in the corner of the endzone for the winning touchdown.
As is almost always the case in football, great defense set up the winning drive. The Chargers had to stop the Chiefs twice in the waning minutes to give themselves the opportunity to win. Anna Collins (8 pass receptions on the day) stopped what would have been the put-away TD by the Peabody girls, as she grabbed a flag near the goal line after a long Peabody pass. Allia Connolly (1 TD, 1 PAT), Livorsi, and Riddick played the tough “D” on the subsequent plays as the Chargers stopped the Chiefs on downs. The Westford girls could not muster a first down and once more had to stop the Chiefs with time running perilously low. Again, under pressure, the Chargers held the Chiefs and then hustled onto the field for the winning drive.
Rachel Meyer was so successful rushing their QB that Peabody changed their whole offensive scheme in game two to combat her quickness. Game one had been a decisive Charger win, 23-7, as the girls used a variety of running, passing, and creative plays to keep the Chiefs off guard. In game two, the Chiefs came out aggressively and evened the series, 20-12. By the third game, the Chiefs had figured out the Charger game plan, and forced the Westford girls to play a more vertical game. That’s indeed what they did, with Riddick hitting Livorsi, Meyer, Collins, Connolly, and Chateauneuf to seal the tournament victory.
For more information on Westford Girls Flag football, email
. More pictures on Pictures web page.
